Boult, Taylor rock Australia

– A six-wicket haul for Trent Boult (above) and a Ross Taylor century brought New Zealand a 24-run victory over Australia in the third one-day international yesterday to win the series 2-0.

Their masterclass saw New Zealand reclaim the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy while Australia lost their outright hold on the world No 1 ODI ranking.

They slipped to 118 points, equal with South Africa, who beat Sri Lanka in Johannesburg on Saturday to go 3-0 up.

South Africa will overtake Australia if they win the remaining two matches in that series.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said the series victory was the right response to the “tough times” when the Black Caps were beaten 3-0 in Australia two months ago, and Taylor paved the way.

“The way he rotated the strike was superb,” he said.

“He faced hardly any dot balls, was able to build partnerships with the top order and the lower order.”

New Zealand made 281/9, and although Australian captain Aaron Finch felt the target was within their reach, they were bundled out for 257 with three overs remaining.

“We had a couple of guys get fifties and they don’t win games at this level,” Finch said.

“The top order are there to make runs but it wasn’t to be.”

Williamson won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on the Hamilton wicket, correctly forecasting it would slow up as the day wore on and Boult would come into his own.

But given the prime early batting conditions, New Zealand appeared to have under-performed despite Taylor’s 107 off 101 balls and his century partnership with Dean Brownlie, who made 63.

New Zealand won the first ODI by six wickets and the second was washed out. – AFP